With a New Year comes a New Seat

The return from the Christmas break as a trainee not only means a return to work, but a fresh start in a new seat (i.e. department). For me, this means a move from our Private Family department into my second seat in Private Client. It also means I am back in our Luton office having spent the last six months based in Berkhamsted. I worked as a paralegal in the Residential Conveyancing team in our Luton office for a couple of years prior to starting my training contract, so it’s nice to see some familiar faces throughout my first week back.

Having had no family law experience before I started my first seat, I was slightly overwhelmed with how different everything seemed to begin with. It’s hard not to become frustrated in the first few weeks of a new department as you grapple with new concepts, principles and ways of working. I’ve tried to learn from this and have tried to prepare myself for this second seat to make sure I can hit the ground running.

Thankfully I studied LPC modules that covered wills, trusts and probate, so I have some background knowledge, and I made sure to read over my notes before I started in the department to refresh my memory. My background in conveyancing also means that I’m familiar with some of the property-related work which comes with administering an estate. Another trainee, Bradley Johnson, who was in the Private Client department before me has also given me some very useful handover notes to explain what the current position is on each file. Nevertheless, it still takes me a few days to get my head around where we are on each file and what needs to be done.

As a trainee in Private Client you are given a lot of responsibility from the outset, with a wide range of wills, trusts and probate files to ‘look after’ on behalf of the partners. This is a great hands-on way to learn, as you are given the scope to learn things for yourself with constant supervision and support from a partner. You tend to deal with the day-to-day running of these files, liaising with clients and other professionals, and other members of the team are always happy to help if you have any questions.

The result of this is a lot of client contact from day one. In my first week I was drafting documents, attending home visits with solicitors and speaking to clients directly. I was also give a couple of new probate matters by my supervisor, with the intention that I could have a go at running the files from the beginning. This of course gives great experience in terms of client care, communication and managing expectations, as well as developing specific legal skills. It also allows you to build relationships which will last throughout the six-month seat.

I’m now a month into my seat, and already I feel far more confident than I did in my first week. Naturally, I still have lots of questions but these are becoming less frequent and my supervising partner is always happy to help.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing what the rest of my Private Client seat brings.